What Types Of Countertops Are Cheaper Than Granite?

Granite is one of the best materials for a modern countertop. However, if you're on a tight budget, this material may be out of your price range. What types of countertops, then, are cheaper than granite but just as efficient? We researched various sources to curate the perfect list to help you in your search.

Some of the best cheap alternatives to granite countertops include:

Marble
Concrete
Laminate
Soapstone
Quartz
Sintered Stone

Determining what type of countertop suits your kitchen best is a question of both practicality and aesthetics. Take a look at the design carrying through your kitchen, then consider your cooking and cleaning needs. You can take a gander through the catalog of granite alternatives with these needs in mind and find the countertop that will better suit your budget.

What Types Of Countertops Are Cheaper Than Granite?

Your quest for a new countertop is confined by a few different factors, including price, size, and overall appearance.

Luckily, the catalog of countertops available to you is broad enough that you can explore a wide variety of options, even if your needs are especially specific.

Granite is considered the king of countertops, but it's also an expensive material.

You can find alternatives that not only suit your kitchen but that are also less expensive and better suited for your upcoming cooking adventures. These alternatives include:

Marble

Known for its unique and captivating appearance, marble is a natural go-to for anyone looking to upgrade their kitchen—and it's cheaper than granite to install.

Cost: Up to $200 per square foot
Pros: Striking in a kitchen setting, great for pulling a room together
Cons: Tends to stain more easily than most materials

Concrete

While concrete may not be your go-to when you remodel a kitchen, the material is surprisingly versatile in its uses.

You can work with professionals to customize your concrete installation, ensuring that it suits your preferred aesthetic.

Cost: Up to $150 per square foot
Pros: Durable over long periods of time and use, easy to customize
Cons: Heavier than most countertop materials, porous, and prone to staining

Laminate

Laminate is one of the most affordable countertop materials on the market. This material comes in a wide range of colors and styles, making it one of the most customizable options on the remodeling table.

Cost: Up to $50 per square foot
Pros: One of your least expensive countertop options, easy to replace over time, resistant to stains
Cons: Sensitive to heat, tends to take on wear and tear

Soapstone

Soapstone is a mine-able stone that prizes practicality in the kitchen. This material's naturally dark colors help make your countertops the star of your kitchen.

Cost: Up to $120 per square foot
Pros: low maintenance, extremely resistant to heat, has a unique blue-green appearance
Cons: porous and prone to staining

Quartz

Quartz is prized as one of the best countertop materials available to date, even with granite options on the table. This easy-to-maintain material brings a real pop to your kitchen while also reducing your day-to-day clean-up.

Cost: Up to $150 per square foot
Pros: Non-porous and resistant to staining, less expensive than similar stone alternatives
Cons: Sensitive to heat

Sintered Stone

Sintered stone is another mine-able stone that you can use in a well-loved kitchen.

If you're looking for material like quartz at a fraction of the price, take a look at some of the sintered stone countertops available through your local dealer.

Cost: Up to $80 per square foot
Pros: Environmentally-friendly, tends not to scratch or react to high levels of heat, low maintenance
Cons: Not always the prettiest material to use in the kitchen

What is the Cheapest, Most Durable Countertop?

When it comes to shopping for an affordable but durable countertop, you'll need to weigh your budget concerns against your desire for long-lasting materials.

For example, wooden countertops tend to be affordable and DIY-friendly, but they can also easily show signs of wear and tear if not properly maintained.

If you're in the market, then, for cost-effective durability, consider the benefits of tile and laminate. Tile does come with natural rivets and, in turn, demands regular cleaning.

However, the material is inexpensive to install and replace. It can give your kitchen the facelift it needs while withstanding the bulk of the work you want to throw at it.

You can just as easily pair laminate and wood countertops for increased durability throughout your kitchen. Laminate is one of the least expensive countertop materials to invest in, and it's easy to replace over time.

More importantly, laminate can withstand a lot of damage. Not only is it slow to stain, but it can hold up against slipping cutting boards, messy kids, and more.

Don't put any hot pots on this material, though! While laminate can withstand low heat for short periods of time, long-term exposure to materials that are still piping hot may prematurely damage it.

What Stones are Cheaper Than Granite?

Granite may be one of the most popular countertop materials in use today, but it's not exactly budget-friendly.

If you're in the market for equally beautiful stone countertops, but you don't want to blow the bank, there are alternatives available to you. Some of the best stone options include quartz, marble, and manufactured stones.

While you'll want to research your local countertop dealers ahead of time, these materials tend to favor your budget, both in terms of your immediate purchase and their long-term durability.

What is the Best Countertop for Your Money?

When it comes to remodeling your kitchen, you'll want to find budget-friendly countertop materials without sacrificing their practicality.

With that in mind, consider laminate, quartz, and tile countertops among your top remodeling materials.

What is the Easiest Countertop to Maintain?

Of the countertops that you can substitute for granite, both laminate and quartz are the easiest to maintain.

Laminate

Unlike many granite alternatives, you don't need to seal a laminate countertop to keep it from staining. Instead, laminate in non-porous.

Because it is an artificial countertop material, it's less likely to absorb spills over time. In turn, you can readily clean off any signs of wear and tear with traditionally counter cleaners.

You can even replace laminate that's beginning to look worn with little effort—and for a reasonable price.

Quartz

Quartz is a relatively non-porous countertop, meaning that it interacts well with any slippage or high-pigment materials it may come into contact with.

Because the stone is unlikely to absorb any of these elements, you can easily clean it with a damp rag and mild soap.

Quartz is additionally difficult to scratch, meaning that you likely won't need to replace your new countertops for any reason beyond your desire for a new kitchen look.

Will Granite Go Out of Style?

Granite first rose to popularity as a countertop material due to its near-perfect marriage of practicality and appearance.

Granite's pattern tends to draw the eye from one end of the kitchen to the other, while its smooth finish makes it easy to clean. This duality means that granite is likely here as a building material for the long run.

What is the Best Stain-Resistant Countertop?

The thing about your kitchen countertop is that no matter how careful you are with food and drink, you're eventually going to have to deal with a stain.

Getting messy is a part of life. You can, however, determine just how much a kitchen mess impacts your kitchen's overall appearance.

Certain types of countertops are better at resisting stains than others, to the point where they may not even change when exposed to some of the longest-lasting foods in your kitchen.

Granite and concrete are both stain-resistant, but they can still take on discoloration over time. If you're looking for a countertop that really stands out in the war against stains, you'll want to invest in quartz.

Quartz countertops, unlike natural quartz, are manufactured. This means that that it relies on intense and short-lived heat to bring itself together.

In turn, the particles in a quartz countertop tend to be closer together than they are in granite countertops. As such, quartz countertops don't have as much space for food and other materials to sink into.

Should You Seal Your Countertop?

Countertop seals can help just about any countertop limit the impact of food stains. However, whether or not you should seal a countertop depends on the kind of counter you have in your home.

Any natural countertops, including granite and wooden ones, absolutely need sealing before you put them to use. It's in your best interest, too, to re-seal these countertops on an annual basis.

You do not need to seal quartz or stainless steel countertops. Quartz countertops come with enough natural protections that they're unlikely to take on stains.

Stainless steel countertops also benefit from an artificial finish, meaning that you can easily clean even serious stains away with a bit of elbow grease.

Create a Beautiful Kitchen on a Budget

Home renovations projects don't have to break the bank.

If you're looking for a gorgeous countertop to bring into your kitchen, granite is a good option, but it's not the only option. You can find equally beautiful alternatives for a fraction of granite's cost.

What type of countertop did you decide on? Let us know in the comments!